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The FE ready for it’s dyno visit.
Text and photos by Mike Mavrigian
INTAKE MANIFOLD
With the heads installed, and before installing the rocker shaft systems, you must install the intake manifold. FE manifolds feature captive pushrod holes (the pushrods pass through the intake manifold). In order to install pushrods, the rockers must be out of the way. As a result, you must first install the intake manifold, followed by pushrods, followed by the rocker system. The intake manifold used in this build was an original vintage Ford “sidewinder” aluminum intake, with the carb plenum offset to the left (presumably to optimize left-hand turns in old NASCAR applications). Basically, we chose this manifold only because of its relative rarity and vintage “coolness.”
When installing the intake manifold, I applied a film of RTV to the manifold port gaskets. With gaskets in place on the heads, I then used RTV to make the front and rear end rail seals instead of using cork gasket strips. I first masked off the front and rear manifold lips, then I carefully positioned the manifold for approximate alignment. To aid in alignment, I temporarily installed the distributor to help locate the manifold. I then installed a set of ARP stainless steel manifold bolts (with threads moly lubed). Once the bolts were in place and hand-snugged, I removed the distributor. The manifold bolts, ARP stainless steel P/N 455-2002, were then torqued to value (32 ft-lbs). I then carefully wiped off any excess RTV at the front and rear rail areas, then removed the masking tape. With masking tape in place, you can wipe off excess sealant without smearing it onto the manifold.
PUSHROD AND ROCKER FINAL INSTALLATION
Once the intake manifold was installed, the pushrods were lubed (with Royal Purple Max Tuff assembly lube) and inserted through the manifold’s pushrod holes, carefully seating each pushrod tip into its respective lifter.
Be sure to apply lube to the pushrod lower tips and upper cups before installing.
With pushrods in place, I then installed the PRW rocker systems, torquing the moly-lubed stand stud nuts to 35 ft-lbs., gradually, in an alternating pattern to distribute the load evenly. Note: PRW specifies rocker stand nut torque at 35 ft-lbs with moly; or 40-45 ft-lbs with oil).
In order to use a torque wrench to set the rocker arm locks at specified value, it’s easiest to use a short wrench extension. When using an offset extension, it’s necessary to compensate for the added leverage length.
Valves were initially cold-adjusted with a lash of 0.024”intake and 0.024” exhaust. Hot lash will be adjusted at 0.022” for both intake and exhaust.
Note: PRW’s torque specification for the rocker arm adjustment locking nuts is 25 ft-lbs. Since a 3/16” hex wrench is required to adjust the rocker ball depth and to hold the adjuster in place during nut tightening, I used a ½” 12-point box extension for my torque wrench (this provided access for the hex wrench). When using a torque wrench extension, you need to compensate for the added length of the extension when setting the torque value on the wrench.
Here’s the formula:
C = D x (A divided by A+B)
A …..the length of the torque wrench, from center of the head to center of the grip handle
B …..length of the extension
C …..the necessary torque wrench setting
D …. The desired torque value
In our case, the length of my torque wrench is 14.5” (A)
The length of my ½” 12-point extension is 2” (B)
The desired torque value is 25 ft-lbs (D)
25 x (14.5 divided by 14.5 + 2) = 21.96 ft-lbs
I rounded off by setting my torque wrench at 22 ft-lbs. With the 2” extension, this allowed me to achieve the desired 25 ft-lbs at the adjuster’s locking nut.
The manifold was topped off with a Pro 800 cfm 4-bbl carb.
Note that the lower right water pump mounting bolt hole is open to water, so be sure to seal the bolt threads. I applied Teflon thread compound.
BELT DRIVE
Our water pump is a cast iron unit (aftermarket replica of the original). Bear in mind that the manifold and water pump each feature a 5/8” pipe nipple, allowing a bypass connection. It’s best to install the water pump only after the manifold has been installed. Before installing the water pump, place a 2 3/8”-long piece of 5/8” heater hose onto the pump’s nipple (with two hose clamps loosely in place on the hose). Guide the hose onto the manifold’s nipple during pump installation. The water pump-to-block 3/8” x 16 x 1.25” bolts were tightened to 30 ft-lbs. Note that on the FE, the right side lower water pump bolt hole is open to water, so be sure to apply thread sealant to this bolt’s threads.
On this build, I installed a Ford OE 7 ¼” diameter single-groove pump pulley. Coupled with the Ford 7 ½” balancer (with built-in 6 ¾” single-groove pulley) and alternator, the proper length V-belt in this particular case was 46.6” in length. I used a Goodyear Gatorback cogged belt, P/N 15466. This engine will be installed in a 1964 Comet AFX clone street/show car, so no accessory drives were needed (no A/C and no power steering).
It’simpossible to install the water pump bypass hose once the pump is installed, so first attach the hose to either the manifold nipple or to the water pump nipple and engage thehose as you mount the pump to the block. Slip the hose clamps onton the hose before the pump is positioned.
I positioned the worm drive clamp hex heads facing the engine’s left side, providing easier access to the clamps once the cooling system expansion tank is installed.
A nifty and superior performing alternative is an electric water pump, such as the anodized aluminum Meziere pump seen here. However, if the customer insists on a vintage appearance, a boring but functional OE style cast iron (or cast aluminum, painted black) pump is likely going to be preferred.
(photo courtesy Meziere)
It took a while to achieve an ideal water pump/alternator belt alignment due to the horrible aftermarket cast iron water pump that was purchased at a local parts store (not one of the brand names that you might normally identify and trust). The pump functioned just fine, but because of the poor machining on the casting exterior, I was forced to make a spacer/eccentric shim setup to obtain a proper belt alignment to the crank pulley and alternator. This is a good example of why you should always spend a bit more and buy the best.
Engine-left frontal view. I used am OE alternator mounting bracket (period-correct) in order to maintain an old-school appearance.
I cheated a bit for the engine oil dipstick arrangement. I used a Lokar flexible stainless braided tube, flexible wrapped-wire dipstick and billet stick handle. Instead of trying to use an OE-length stick (our height changed because of the anticipated header application), I bought a universal-length flexible stick and trimmed it at the upper tip to achieve a custom fit that was tuned to our 7 qt Milodon oil pan’s sump. The twisted-wire dipstick inserts into the billet handle and is secured with a set screw.
The water pump and crank pulleys are also vintage OE Ford, bead-blasted, primed and painted black, again to maintain an original “old school” appearance.
While this engine will eventually be fitted with a Ford OE brass cooling system expansion tank which will serve as a high spot for air bleeding and as a fill location, for purposes of connecting to the engine dyno’s cooling tower hose, I temporarily installed a water neck.
An 830 cfm Pro Systems carb was installed atop the old Ford sidewinder aluminum intake manifold, with a 1/2″-thick phenoloc spacer (required for our fuel feed to clear the intake manifold). We ran the dyno sessions jetted with 76 primary and 86 secondary jets.
Spark plug wires were routed along the face of the valve covers, along the outboard side of the covers instead of draping them over the valve covers. This provided a cleaner look. The wires were secured using vertical black plastic separators that were attached at the front and forward-side valve cover bolt locations.
IGNITION
At least to start with on dyno, I chose a set of Motorcraft BSF-42C spark plugs. The OE gap (for 427 FE engines back in the ‘60s) was typically 0.035”. However, since we’re running a hotter spark via electronic ignition, we set our gaps at 0.042”. Spark plug wires are 8mm Mallory. Since the owner of the engine wanted to run a vintage mechanical tach, our distributor is a vintage Mallory “crab cap” model, equipped with mechanical tach drive and an antiquated flat “crab” style cap (not my first choice, but it is what it is)..
The fuel feed consists of a -8 AN carb log from Trick Flow, featuring black anodized aluminum hoses ends and fittings for an understated appearance. The fuel entry and fuel pressure gauge are located at the rear, per the fuel plumbing plan for the vehicle application (a 1964 Comet AFX clone).
The very-old-school Mallory distributor features a mechanical tach drive, per the wishes of the owner. This is the old mallory P/N YL502 BV, which only accepts the low profile “crab” cap P/N 221 B.
BREAK-IN OIL
Wiping out a new cam isn’t anyone’s idea of fun, so I took some precautions. Because this engine features a solid-lifter flat-tappet cam, I added 7 qts of Joe Gibbs BR (break-in) oil. This would serve to break-in our fresh flat tappet cam. After break-in on the dyno, we ran the data dyno sessions with 30W non-detergent oil plus a 12-oz container of Comp Cams’ break-in additive (P/N CCA-159-12). This additive contains a specially engineered blend of extreme pressure break-in protection. The Joe Gibbs Racing BR (break-in) oil is a dedicated break-in oil formulation which provides high levels of zinc, phosphorus and sulfer in a mineral-base oil. This is a 15W-50 oil and can be used for up to 2 hours of break-in/dyno time before changing to your oil of choice).
Even following break-in, it’s highly recommended to add a container of break-in additive (such as Comp’s) with every subsequent oil change, to retain cam and lifter protection.
Concentrated ZDDP addtives, such as the additive offered by Comp Cams, provides the necessary protection, both for cam break-in and routine engine operation, to protect a flat tappet camshaft. Either use a dedicated high-zinc specialty oil, or use a non or low-detergent oil ofmyour choice and add one bottle of the zinc additive. It’ll save your new cam!
As you are probably already aware, today’s commonly available off-the-shelf engine oil formulations have been changed to severely reduce or even eliminate zinc phosphate levels, which are NECESSARY to protect flat-tappet cams, especially during the break-in phase. Regardless of what oil you plan to use long-term (petroleum based or synthetic), ALWAYS add a container of zinc phosphate extreme pressure additive with every oil change.
With a total of 7 quarts of oil added to the sump of our 7-qt Milodon oil pan (and another quart to fill our remote oil filter), I used an oil primer shaft and electric drill to rotate the oil pump drive shaft and prime the engine (accessed through the manifold’s distributor hole). With valve covers off, I checked to verify that oil was being delivered to our rockers.
We primed the engine again immediately before it ran on the dyno. This is always a good idea to eliminate the possibility of a dry start.
THE DYNO DAY
When the time comes to finally run an engine on dyno, I experience two extremes of emotion: excitement and fear of the unknown. Even though you are certain that you did everything right, a little voice in the back of your mind gnaws at you. Did you forget something? Did you screw up and miss something critical? Will we have a problem that couldn’t be foreseen?, etc., etc. Due to my anal personality, this simply cannot be avoided.
Well, as usual, and in spite of my trepidations, the run ran like clockwork.
Once at Level’s dyno shop in Fremont, Ohio, the FE was mounted to the Stuska dyno.
We ran the engine at Level Performance in Fremont, Ohio, on their Stuska engine dynamometer. We spent a total of about two hours of prep (mounting the engine to the dyno, connecting our ignition wiring, oil pressure line, cooling hoses, fuel plumbing, etc.). Our setup including timing set at 17 degrees initial and 36 degrees total. The 830 cfm carb was jetted with 76 primary and 86 secondary. Our dyno session exhaust headers featured 1.75” primary tubes. After the engine first fired, we ran the engine (modulating RPM) for about 20 minutes for cam break-in. After shut-down, we drained the break-in oil from the engine sump and from the remote oil filter lines, installed a fresh remote filter and added a fresh supply of 30W non-detergent oil (along with a 20-oz container of Comp Cams zinc additive), checked our spark plugs and re-adjusted valve lash (0.022” hot).
Since we didn’t want to take a chance of messing up the exhaust headers that will be used in the vehicle, we opted for a set of old 1/75″ headers that were handily lying around Level’s shop.
We recorded horsepower and torque starting at 4000 RPM and stopped recording at 5800 RPM. Our first pull netted 366 HP and 481 ft-lbs at 4000, climbing to 468 HP and 492 ft-lbs at 5200 RPM. Our final pull, after fiddling with timing, netted a recorded 488 HP and 504 ft-lbs at 4800 RPM. Considering that we kept compression on the mild side and used the vintage cast iron Ford medium riser heads, that’s not bad. Certainly enough for a street/show car (the engine’s going into a 1964 Comet AFX clone).
We ran the break-in session using Joe Gibbs BR oil (to make sure that the flat tappet cam would break-in properly). After the break-in session, we drained the oil and changed the remote oil filter, then topped off the sump with 30W non-detergent oil, plus a container of Comp Cams’ ZDDP additive to further protect the cam.
Level’s dyno operator (Dennis) fires the engine to begin the data session.
A final adjustment to ignition timing was set at 17 initial and 36 total advance.
Our peak recorded torque output was 504 ft-lbs. Shown here is a reading of 466 ft-lbs at 5301 RPM. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to capture a dyno monitor screen with a camera at exactly the moment you want.
Peak recorded horsepower on the Stuska dyno was 488 HP at 5200 RPM (486 shown here at 5786 RPM). I was told that due to variances in calibration that our actual horsepower was likely about 20 HP more at 508 HP. Either way, the FE ran like a watch through 6200 RPM without a single glitch.
DYNO DATA
FORD FE 427 SIDE OILER, BORED/STROKED TO 485 CID
TIMING: 17-36 CARB: 830 CFM JETS: 76-86
AVERAGE BARO PRESSURE: 29.62 AVERAGE AIR TEMP: 69 DEG F.
PEAK CORRECTED TORQUE: 504 FT-LBS @ 4800 RPM
PEAK CORRECTED HP: 488 HP @ 5200 RPM
SPEED (RPM) CORR. TORQ. FT-LBS CORR. HP
4000 481 366
4100 499 389
4200 490 392
4300 494 404
4400 495 415
4500 497 426
4600 498 436
4700 493 441
4800 504 461
4900 498 465
5000 495 471
5100 491 477
5200 492 488
5300 478 483
5400 468 481
5500 461 482
5600 453 483
5700 442 480
5800 437 483
FUEL SPREADSHEET
SPEED FUEL PRESS CSFC FUEL FLOW FUEL MASS FLOW
RPM lbs/Hp-hr GPM lbs/hr
4000 7.0 0.471 0.471 173
4100 7.0 0.443 0.471 173
4200 7.0 0.438 0.468 171
4300 7.0 0.437 0.482 177
4400 7.0 0.453 0.512 188
4500 7.0 0.431 0.501 184
4600 7.0 0.438 0.520 191
4700 7.0 0.443 0.534 196
4800 7.0 0.422 0.531 195
4900 7.0 0.445 0.564 207
5000 7.0 0.443 0.570 209
5100 7.0 0.457 0.594 218
5200 7.0 0.397 0.528 194
5300 7.0 0.460 0.606 222
5400 6.9 0.495 0.650 238
5500 6.9 0.479 0.630 231
5600 6.9 0.499 0.658 241
5700 6.9 0.475 0.622 228
5800 6.9 0.482 0.636 233
OIL SPREADSHEET
SPEED OIL PSI OIL TEMP (F) WATER TEMP (F)
4000 62 181 174
4100 62 181 174
4200 63 181 174
4300 63 181 174
4400 63 181 174
4500 63 182 174
4600 63 182 174
4700 64 182 174
4800 64 182 174
4900 64 182 174
5000 64 182 174
5100 64 182 174
5200 64 182 174
5300 64 182 175
5400 63 182 175
5500 63 183 175
5600 63 183 175
5700 63 183 175
5800 63 184 175
ACCELERATION
SPEED RPM/SEC ELAPSED TIME (sec)
4000 179 0.00
4100 662 0.15
4200 492 0.35
4300 608 0.48
4400 760 0.61
4500 903 0.74
4600 832 0.85
4700 760 0.96
4800 1011 1.07
4900 885 1.20
5000 787 1.31
5100 778 1.46
5200 760 1.57
5300 331 1.85
5400 304 2.20
5500 447 2.51
5600 402 2.81
5700 241 3.12
5800 286 3.42
OUR PRODUCT SOURCES
ARP
1863 Eastman Ave.
Ventura, CA 93003
800-826-3045
COMP CAMS
3406 Democrat Rd.
Memphis, TN 38118
800-999-0853
DIAMOND RACING PRODUCTS
23003 Diamond Dr.
Clinton Twp., MI 48035
877-552-2112
GOODSON TOOLS & SUPPLIES
156 Galewski Dr.
Winona, MN 55987
800-533-8010
GRESSMAN POWERSPORTS
904 Lime St.
Fremont, OH 43420
419-355-8980
LEVEL PERFORMANCE
2251 Napoleon Rd.
Fremont, OH 43420
419-334-9470
MAHLE-CLEVITE, INC.
1350 Eisenhower Place
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-3282
800-338-8786
MELLING SELECT PERFORMANCE
P.O. Box 1188
Jackson, MI 49204
517-787-8172
MILODON
2250 Agate Court
Simi Valley, CA 93065
805-577-5950
PRW INDUSTRIES, INC.
193 West Orangethorpe Ave.
Placentia, CA 92870
714-792-1000
SCAT ENTERPRISES, INC.
1400 Kingsdale Ave.
Redondo Beach, CA 90278-3983
310-370-5501
SUMMIT RACING
P.O. Box 909
Akron, OH 44309-0909
800-230-3030
TREND PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS
23444 Schoenherr
Warren, MI 48089
810-447-0400
Tags: BREAK-IN, CARBURETOR, COMP CAMS, DYNO, FE, JOE GIBBS, LISTA, MILODON, PRW, Pulleys, WATER PUMP
